Trump claims no fault in immigrant family separation

by By Zach Wagner - Staff Writer

Tue, Apr 16th 2019 10:00 pm

blame game In a recent interview, Trump claimed that former President Barack Obama was at fault for the seperation of migrant families.

Since getting elected in 2016, Trump and his administration have been under a lot of scrutiny regarding immigration and the splitting of families at the border. From the border wall to the stern separation policies, the administration has done everything it can to fulfill its campaign promises.

According to The Washington Post, in a recent Oval Office press conference on April 9, President Trump addressed these issues by placing the blame for the current policies on the Obama administration and claiming that he has put a stop to the separations at the border.

“President Obama had child separation,” Trump said. “Take a look. The press knows it, you know it, we all know it. I didn’t have — I’m the one that stopped it. President Obama had child separation… President Obama separated children. They had child separation. I was the one that changed it, okay?”

Trump went even further, stating that Obama was the one who implemented the steel cage jail cells that were formerly used to house children taken from their loved ones.

According to CNN, although you can hold Obama responsible for the steel cages, his policies and rules regarding family separation differ from the approaches used by the current administration.

Under Obama, a plan for family separation was denied, instead having a screening process for each family. Authorities during the Obama era based splittings off the well-being of a child. In April of 2018, former Attorney General Jeff Sessions issued a zero tolerance rule, leaving no chance for young kids to be left with their parents.

That policy has now been lifted, but has left behind some serious damage. Since the end of the zero tolerance policy, the number of illegal immigrants has increased. The amount of people heading to the border is the highest amount this country has seen in a decade.

According to CNN, the lift of the policy is not the only reason why the number of illegal immigrants is on the rise. Destruction of houses and crime organizations forcing migration have also been key factors in the big spike.

One thing the Trump administration has done is implemented new housing facilitates, ones that differ from the cages used by Obama. Current Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen was asked about the different facilities back in March during the congressional hearing.

New Jersey Democratic Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman asked: “Does it differ from the cages you put your dogs in when you let them stay outside? Is it different?”

Nielsen replied: “Yes... It's larger. It has facilities. It provides room to sit, to stand, to lay down.”

According to CNN, the Department of Health and Human Services is in charge of running the facilities. Though they do not resemble a jail cell or a cage, they do restrict the children and have become overcrowded throughout the Trump administration.

In my opinion, I think it is safe to say that the zero tolerance policy was most likely lifted due to the overcrowded facilities. I also think the Trump administration is not 100 percent at fault in this situation. Trump took the old system used by Obama and shaped it into his own.

The kids need to be in better facilities and all families need to be screened before a separation takes place. The children do not need to be punished for something they most likely do not understand or control.

The rules that were implemented by the Trump administration made the problem worse. More people are coming over illegally and we have more lives in our hands due to the overcrowded facilities. With a screening process, it would decrease the number of people that are being held in confinement. President Trump and the people involved in this situation have a lot to work on to get this regulated.

With the election quickly approaching it is going to be interesting to see how Trump bounces back from all the problems that have taken place during his administration.